John James Audubon

In 1803, on his arrival at Mill Grove, John James Audubon met the owner of a nearby estate, William Bakewell and his daughter Lucy. Eventually, having many common interests, he and Lucy became close to each other. But they had to wait until 1808 before they received her father’s permission to marry.

The couple had four children; two sons named Victor Gifford Audubon and John Woodhouse Audubon; and two daughters named Lucy and Rose. While the girls died at infancy the two boys would one day help their father to publish his work. John Woodhouse Audobon also became a naturalist in his own right.

Towards the end of his life, Audubon’s health began to fail and from 1848, he began to suffer from dementia, eventually dying on January 27, 1851 at his family home in Manhattan. He lies buried at the Church of the Intercession in the Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum.

John James Audubon was born on April 26, 1785, in the town of Les Cayes, located on the southern coast of present-day Haiti. At that time, it was a part of the French colony known as Saint-Domingue.

His father, Lieutenant Jean Audubon, was a French naval officer, who owned a large sugar plantation near Les Cayes. While his legally married wife, Anne Moynet Audubon, lived in France, he had many mistresses at Saint-Domingue, with whom he fathered unknown number of children.

Initially, John was named Jean Rabin after his mother, Jeanne Rabine, a 27-year-old chambermaid from Brittany. When she died of tropical diseases a few months after his birth, Jean was raised by his father’s mulatto housekeeper, Catherine Sanitte Bouffard. Later, she gave birth to another of Audubon’s daughters, Muguet.

In 1789, because of slave unrest in the Caribbean, Jean Audubon decided to diversify his investment, buying Mill Grove, a 284-acre farm near Philadelphia. But as the unrest intensified, he returned to France leaving his children behind.

In 1791, Jean Audubon brought Jean Rabin and Muguet, who were predominantly of European ancestry, to France. Here, they were graciously accepted by Madam Audubon and raised at La Gerbetiere, their country estate in the village of Couëron near Nantes.

During the voyage, Jean-Jacques was inflicted with yellow fever. On reaching New York City, he was put under a Quaker woman, who ran a boarding house. From her, he learned English in exchange of drawing lessons. Sometime now, he also changed his name to John James Laforest Audubon.

John James Audubon found Mill Grove, with its extensive fields and tree-covered hills, a paradise. Here, he led the life of a country gentleman, spending his time in hunting, fishing, drawing and music, paying no attention to the lead mine he was supposed to take care of.

Here, he once again started watching and documenting birds, intending to illustrate them more realistically than most artists did. He would go out at dawn and come back “wet with dew, and bearing a feathered prize”, having no care for the future. Slowly he started recording their behavior.

He was first known person to go into bird-banding in America. Tying yarn to the legs of eastern phoebes he wanted to see if they returned to the same nesting spots. In doing so, he met Lucy Bakewell, who shared his passion and they together began to explore the woods.

In 1805, John James Audubon visited France, where he formed a partnership with Ferdinand Rozier. The partners would eventually return to America, working together until 1811. He also met naturalist Charles-Marie D'Orbigny and with his help improved his skills in taxidermy. D'Orbigny also taught him the scientific methods of research.

Around 1807, as the mining operation failed to bring in profit, John James Audubon and his partner sold part of the estate, including the house and the mine, keeping the remaining part as investment. Thereafter, he moved to New York to learn import-export trade, but nothing came out of it.

In 1808, he moved to Louisville, Kentucky. There he attempted to run a grocery store with his partner; but even there, bird watching and painting remained his prime occupation.

In 1810, while living at Louisville, he met Alexander Wilson, a distinguished ornithologist and came across the first two volumes of his book, ‘American Ornithology’. It might have inspired him to publish his own book; but for that he would have to wait for many years.

Because of the embargo on British goods, their trading business in Louisville could not flourish. In 1810, the partners moved their business further west to Henderson. But here too the return was poor and Audubon often had to go hunting and fishing for sustention, making his acquaintances with nature closer.

Unable to establish their business in Henderson, Audubon and Rozier next moved to Ste. Genevieve, now in Missouri. There, on April 6, 1811, they dissolved their partnership with Rozier buying up Audubon’s share. Audubon now returned to Kentucky and started working on his own.